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“When I was 35, I looked 25 with Shani; when I was 45, I looked 40 with Shani; and now I’m approaching 50 and I still look 45,” said actress and Milla Jovovich about the night’s honoree, esthetician and brand founder Shani Darden, who sees celebrity clients from her Beverly Hills studio and whose eponymous product line can be found on Sephora shelves.
Darden co-hosted Friday night’s dinner at San Vicente Santa Monica, with Laura Brown, the former editor-in-chief of InStyle magazine, current founder of LB Media and co-author of the upcoming book, All The Cool Girls Get Fired. All the cool girls were definitely in attendance, along with a man or two, to celebrate the recent launch of Darden’s newest product, Rescue Serum with 10 Percent Azelaic Complex.
The intimate dinner was a mix of Darden’s current clients (Ryan Michelle Bathe and Jurnee Smollet), fans of the product line (Rachel Zoe and Mariel Haenn) and “Shani virgins” Monica Lewinsky and Christina Hendricks, who joked that maybe she’ll be able to get in for a facial now. Also in attendance were designer Clare Vivier and SPRWMN founder Ambre Dahan, actress Rebecca Gayheart, singer Betty Who, A Good Person star Nichelle Hines and Harold and Brittany Perrineau. Cash Warren and Drew Scott, who happened to be at the hot spot, crashed the party during dessert.
Monica Lewinsky and Shani Darden; Milla Jovovich, Rachel Zoe and Julia Obst.
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Shani Darden
Although Darden has dozens of famous clients, she’s all about the skin care and her products, and rarely throws splashy parties. That could be why she got choked up thanking the group for coming out to Santa Monica on a Friday night in Los Angeles traffic to celebrate the $68 concoction. “It’s such an amazing thing for you to show up and that matters, that you all showed up for me and it means the world to me,” she told the packed private room.
The soirée saw guests gushing over how the esthetician “changed their skin” and sharing their favorite products. To wit, Jovovich told a story about lying on Darden’s table for her spicy Triple Acid Signature Peel. “I came out with skin that was new and I had never experienced anything like it. Shani is the girl who knows how to get your skin in shape.” She’s done the peel at home since and said she’s “so in love with it.”
Shani Darden Rescue Serum
Brown, the night’s co-host, learned about Darden’s magic through their mutual friend, Jessica Alba. She stayed a “Shani fan” because of the esthetician’s “no-B.S.” approach to skincare. “It was like a facial with a friend, not a woman who was telling me that my pores are wrong and selling me all this stuff and making me feel weird or saying I had to have a certain juice; it was a real person who knows innately what she’s doing,” she said. “She works so hard. She’s not one of those L.A. girls that just clacks around.”
Ryan Michelle Bathe, who had “horrible acne,” recalled sitting next to Darden at a Baby2Baby event and asked her, “Can you help this?” Darden replied, “You know I can. You’re not hopeless,” and a friendship was born. “You know it’s a frankness that’s so from her heart,” Bathe said. “Her products are exactly like that, they’re frank, to the point, from the heart. They get to the issue and they only get better with time.”
Jurnee Smollett, Laura Brown and Christina Hendricks.
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Shani Darden
Journee Smollett has also seen Darden for her “problematic skin” for almost a decade. The Retinol Reform Treatment Serum — loved by everyone from Shay Mitchell to Hollywood beaut insiders — was her gateway product. “I’ve always struggled with acne and very oily skin. I wear a lot of makeup because of my job and shooting long hours,” Smollett said. “I just bought her red light mask. Man, it’s so good. At night, I put it on. There’s an acne setting and there’s a setting for wrinkles. I do both, back to back.”
Retinol Reform Treatment Serum is Zoe’s favorite product from the line, too, though she also loves the Moisture Boost Plumping Serum, which she uses on alternate days. She plans to bring her 14-year-old son into Darden’s studio to help him build a skincare routine. “Sky has beautiful skin but he’s picking it and I’m like, ‘you have nothing to pick.’”
Shani Darden Retinol Reform
One guest who has been using the new serum since way before it launched is Revolve Chief Brand Officer Raissa Gerona. “It absolutely changed my skin, and so I use it now two or three times a week, along with her face wash, moisturizer and eye cream. She just has the best products.”